Dr Martin Luther King was a Bodhisattva of our time, in real time. He was in the midst of the greatest change in the history of our society and remained true to his vision of nonviolence and liberation. Dr. King was an inspiration to all who long to inspire change. He was the perfect coach, motivator, orator, preacher and prophet. He saw the mountaintop. And, although he he never made it, he introduced all of us to the possibility of liberation of the human spirit. He saw the possibility of a promised land in his faith in human dignity. Dr. King believed in the inherent goodness of humanity, despite knowing, all too well, the evil inherent in its ignorance.Today, I wish to recommit myself to nonviolent. Nonviolence of body, speech and mind dedicated to the benefit of the world. I will fail more often than succeed, but I vow to fight the injustice inherent in my own heart. I commit to begin there, and to return there. I vow to never fly higher than my heartbreak, or to outrun my fear. For, in doing so, I distance myself from my humanity. I vow to remain with the pain of the world, until all are liberated from suffering and ignorance.Our hearts are wounded, frightened and incomplete. Sometimes, they feel too much. But they are strong. So strong, We can resolve to love and bring love to a wounded world and have faith in the strength of our heart. Its invoking a change from the heart, and of the heart, sustainable change.
This is more than a resolution. Its a revolution.
One day, the world may recognize the inherent goodness in nature and life.One day it may respect the equality, dignity and sovereignty of every human who suffers here. The world may one day relinquish its drive to devour itself, and see all its parts as essential to the whole. That will take resolve, but that change will be a revolution, an absolute shift in the paradigms of imprisonment to an allegiance to liberation. That will take courage, strength and patience. That will take the protection of modern day bodhisattvas – beings dedicated to the liberation of the world- who become the stewards of awakenment, working to wake up their own warrior heart for the benefit of their world.The revolution will take the gentle insistent determination to remove the ignorance that binds us to hatred. But, as change is the nature of things, once we wake up, that change will happen naturally.
We don’t have to invent goodness. We need only remove the shackles that bind us and liberate its spirit.Here is one of the greatest speeches of our time. It was delivered the night before his assassination and it is apparent that he knew what was coming. You can see it in his face and his resolve. This is the face of courage and the most direct moment of truth I can imagine. It is the face of one who had seen the possibility of a world that he could only support, but would never live to see.
http://youtu.be/08rlDmVhkSc